Merlin Httyd crossover
by Kinleysage
Summary: It is a crossover of Merlin and Httyd, Merlin must go to the village of Berk with Arther and a few of his trusted knights.
1. Chapter 1

This is a crossover of Merlin and How to Train Your Dragon. The beginning of the story is set in the beginning of the first movie, right after Hiccup shoots Toothless down. I will try to make it an even amount of story for both sides, but I might accidentally go to one side too much and not enough of the other. For Merlin, it is set after Uther dies. (Sorry if that was a spoiler.) Arther knows about Merlin's magic, and has tried to get everyone to slightly go toward magic, and I think that's all you need to know. When I go to a different person, it is at the same time from the beginning of the last person, and goes to the end of that time period. Unless they are together the whole time. Then I will give information about both. You should already know everything else.

Hiccup walked up to his father, fearing the conversation they were about to have. "Son, how are you?" Stoick asked. Without waiting for an answer, Stoick continued, "Listen son, in a few days, we will have visitors. As you already know, I will be gone. Unfortunately, I cannot change plans, so you will have to show them around the village." Hiccup was so confused. Visitors? Here? "... be here for a couple of days. Probably to ask for help in the war against, Well, everything." Stoick chuckled. "Since I will be gone and not here for the visitors, you will need to be prepared. This means that you will start dragon training. Hopefully you won't be too much of an embarrassment." He muttered the last part under his breath. Hiccup still heard. He was also confused. He thought his dad was going to tell him he was an embarrassment to the whole village and that he has to leave. He knew that he was an embarrassment in the village. But Hiccup didn't want to do dragon training. "Dad, I mean, I don't have to do dragon training do I?" Stoick laughed so hard Hiccup thought he could see tears. "Of course you do. Ha."

Hiccup left the room. He was mad. He didn't want to be an embarrassment, but at the same time, he didn't want to kill dragons as much as he used to. All the village was still on to him and laughed when he tried to say that he shot down a night fury. He had heard the dragons cry and practically saw him go down. He knew it. He decided to go see if he could find the night fury when Gobber came and told him he needed to go home, because it was getting dark. He fumed at this because it was embarrassing to not be able to go out after dark. When the dragons were out.

Hiccup lied in his bed, well, I think cot is a better word. When he couldn't take it anymore, he got up to see if his dad was back. Great. He was. He hoped he wasn't awake and so he snuck a peek through the tiny crack in the doorway. He was. This just gets better and better, Hiccup thought. Being as quiet as he could, he grabbed everything he needed and managed to elude his dad and sneak off into the night.

This is the end of chapter one. I hope you liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

P.S. when it speaks English, I'm going to bold it. Italicized is magic-spoken when in quotation marks. Otherwise it's simply an emphasis.

Merlin had just finished cleaning and shining Arther's armor. To be honest, Merlin thought that Arther just liked the idea of being able to control the almighty warlock. As a friend, or in a funny way, of course. Unfortunately, since not everyone knew about Merlin, that meant that they had to keep up appearances. So Merlin was still Arther's supposed _lowly_ servant. " **Mmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnn**!" Arther called from underneath Gauis' tower. Merlin sighed and grabbed the armor he had just worked so hard to clean and then made his way down the long flight of stairs and hallways to Arther's room.

" **Here sire**." Merlin said in a tired voice from climbing all those stairs, after he had put the armor down, of course. " **Are you deaf**?" Arthur asked. " **Well.**.." Merlin tried to say, but Arthur cut him off. " **I've been yelling for hours**." Merlin shrugged and asked, " **What do you need sire**?" Arthur looked very tired for a moment and sat down. " **Merlin, I know this is probably very hard for you to understand, but you must come with me on a very dangerous mission. We may each have to risk our**..." Now it was Merlin's turn to cut Arthur off with a chuckle and said. " **We've survived worse, haven't we**?" Arthur gave him such a hard stare it could have drilled holes straight through Merlin's skull. " **Shut up**?" Asked Merlin. Arthur angrily continued, " **As I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted, we must get our allies back.** **Aithusa is a problem. In the North, there is the village** **of Berk. It is infested with dragons. However, they also helped my father in the war against dragons."** Arthur stopped for a second to let it sink in. Merlin continued with a frown, saying, " **So that means that they** _ **also**_ **kill dragons.** " Arthur looked down at his desk for a second. " **Yes. If you could somehow sneak some dragons onto our boat with your thing that you do?** " Merlin looked thoughtful. " **Who are we bringing with us**?" He asked. Arthur replied easily, " **Only the ones that know. If we bring too many, I fear the Vikings will assume that we are not here to ask for provisions.** " Arthur didn't need to tell Merlin what that meant. The only ones that knew Merlin's secret were Sir Gwaine, Sir Percival, Sir Leon, etc. Arthur left the room after he and Merlin were done talking to go tell the knights everything.

After Arthur had told them of their situation, the best and most trusted knights of Camelot had grabbed their few belongings and some provisions. All of their packs were light for two reasons. One was, seeing as how most of them grew up poor, they didn't have much to begin with, with the exception of Sir Leon and King Arther, and they wouldn't show off to the others how rich their families were. The second reason was because they wanted to use the ship's storage for supplies on the sea, for if they got stuck in a doldrum or a storm and got lost or off course, then they wanted all the supplies they needed. As they were getting ready, Gwaine started to get bored and took Leon's helmet so they could play catch until Arthur got so mad (mainly because of stress) he actually made some of the people in the nearest room run out of the castle till it was over. That was about the most exciting thing that happened while they were getting ready, for they were mainly worried about the journey ahead. Even Sir Gwaine, though he hid it with jokes and sarcasm.

As they had just finished packing everything then Lady Guinevere, the new queen, walked to the docks to say goodbye. " **Oh Arthur, do you have to? It is too risky**." Gwen complained. Arthur gave her a longing stare and replied softly, " **Guinevere, you are the most beautiful woman in the world. I will always come back to you. No matter what. You hear me? Besides, have I ever died on you?** " He replied with a wink and kissed her on the cheek. Gwen's eyes teared up with love and with the longing that Arthur would suddenly change his mind and stay. Arthur climbed onto the boat, waving goodbye to his wife and queen. He looked back at Camelot, with hope that he will return, and worry that he won't.

Hiccup ran in the night, the rain and wind blowing in his face so hard he was nearly blind. Although it was cold, he had hot tears running down his face. Nobody believed him, he was said to be the craziest person on the planet, and that if the village had a choice to get rid of whoever they wanted, it would be the chief's son, as long as Stoick didn't know how his son had died, of course. He shook his head in anger. Get a hold of yourself Hiccup, he thought. He had to prove to everyone that he wasn't crazy, and that he actually shot down a Night Fury. If he could find the dragon and bring his father the heart, then the village will praise him. He could even get a girlfriend. Hiccup ducked behind a bush as a series of torches and feet stomped across the forest, followed be what appeared to be a dragon. Judging be the heavy thumps and long breaks between the steps, a deadly nadder.

A few minutes later, to make sure they were gone, Hiccup poked his head over the bushes. Nobody and nothing, were there. Still, just to be cautious he slowly crept behind the bushes until he was sure he was out of the village. A million thoughts ran through his head. Most of them were stupid though, and had nothing to do with the situation, like, why are apples both red and green, while potatoes are just plain brown? He mainly pushed those thoughts out of his head though. The main question that was boggling his mind was why the knights of Camelot were coming here. In fact, when his dad had told him, he went and learned some English, though he had no way to practice it, because he had to keep it a secret. If anybody knew, then he'd be in even bigger trouble than he is now. He looked from side to side to see if anybody was on or around the bridge to the next island. Thankfully, nobody was. Hiccup ran across the bridge as if his life depended on it. He was actually quite fast. When he was little, since he was so skinny and just could not seem to find muscle anywhere, he had to learn to be smarter and faster than bullies. I admit, he was not the fastest in the village, but he sure wasn't the slowest. Not even close. Hiccup got out his notebook, and, to make sure it didn't get soaked, leaned over it and drew a quick sketch of the island. He then began to walk around, recording in quite accurate detail the layout of the island on the map. He had no problem with the dragons right now, for the trees provided cover. He just kept recording and walking, the fear of shame keeping him going.

A few hours later, Hiccup sat on a log. This is HOPELESS!, he thought. He had already done half the island and was worn out. But his very fragile pride could not break now. He turned around and got up to he could do one more hour before the village started looking for him, fearing that he would mess everything up. Just before he fully stood up though, a branch hit him on the head and pushed him back down. "Ouch!" He said before realizing the branch and the ground below it seemed to have been pushed by something. He didn't notice it earlier because he was looking straight down, lost in a world of thought. He took a step forward and slipped, for the ground was muddy from all the rain that had stopped just recently. He got up, wiping mud from his face and hands with the leaves that remained on the trees. Even though nobody saw, Hiccup was red in the face with embarrassment. He followed the long mud slide till it stopped and he gasped in surprise.

The ship was going slow even though all the sails were up. There hadn't been a lot of wind for days, and the sailors were starting to get worried. " **How's it going**?" Arthur asked the captain, Alcoa. " **Not good Sire. We haven't had any wind for days, and there doesn't appear to be a single storm or squall heading our way, we are starting to get a tiny bit behind schedule."** " **Hm** " Arthur said, pretending that he knew what a squall meant. " **Merlin, come here.** " He yelled and walked toward his Cabin. Merlin didn't seem to hear, because he was in deep conversation with the ship's crew. Arthur stopped and yelled again, this time cupping his hands around his mouth, " **MERLIN!** " Merlin jumped and tripped on a barrel, righted himself, and ran to his king, all with the crew laughing behind him. Merlin turned around, made a thumbs up sign, (which made the crew laugh even more) smiled, and then turned back to his frowning king. " **Yes Sire**?" Arthur pointed his head toward the crew, who were once again talking amongst themselves, and said, " **You** **seem** **to** **have** **made** **some** **friends**." Merlin looked back and said, " **Oh**. **We** **were** **just** **joking** **around**. **They** **seem** **to** **have** **quite** a **lot** **of** **stories** **to** **tell**. **More** **than** **you** I' **d** **say**." Arthur gave him _the stare_ and then returned back to normal. " **Do** **you** **know** **any** **of** **the** **Viking** **language** , **uh** , **Norse** , **is** **it**?" He asked. Merlin replied, " **Well** I **know** **enough** , I **can** **speak** a **few** **sentences** **but** I' **m** **not** **perfect**." Arthur turned around and said, " **Well** **get** **perfect** **then** , **we** **need** **you** **to** **be** **a** **translator** **for** **everyone**." Merlin, surprised, just said, " **Uh** , **ok**." Merlin went to the Cabin he shared with Sir Leon and Sir Gwaine, and got out a book to start studying.

Nearly three hours later, Merlin put his book down and closed his eyes. His head felt like it was going to explode. He had been studying non-stop for what seemed like forever. Gwaine came in and said to Merlin, " **Come on now, it can't be that bad, can it?"** Merlin gave him a stare that pretty much said, you try learning it. The knights of Camelot had never had to worry about learning a new language. They had never gone this far in any direction, and all the kingdoms nearby spoke English. Thankfully, Merlin's magical abilities allowed him to learn things much faster than the average human. " **Are you alright? You look really tired." Gwaine noted. "** Allt fínt, pakka." Merlin replied in Norse. Gwaine looked confused. " **What does** _ **that**_ **mean?"** He asked incredulously. " **It means I'm fine, thanks**." Merlin replied in a tired voice. Gwaine looked at his friend. To be honest, the knight was worried about his him. Sure they had faced many dangers and near-death experiences to last a lifetime, (no pun intended) but none were as great as this. If anyone on Berk knew Merlin's secret, nothing would be safe. The Berkians weren't as strong as them, but they weren't weak. Plus, there were over ten times as much of them as there were of us. But that wasn't his main worry, his main worry was about the dragons. Ever since they had heard that Berk killed dragons, Merlin seemed to be distant, almost to the point where it seemed like they weren't there to him, almost. Never did he truly ignore them. He was always willing to accept their help. Gwaine understood why his friend was going through such a hard time. His bond with dragons was strong. To hear that a whole entire village was into the mindset of making those creatures instinct? Gwaine couldn't even imagine what Merlin was going through. But Merlin also understood the importance of his part in the team. He didn't let his own problems get in the way of helping the team. That's what a true friend is. Gwaine was proud to be his comrade. Gwaine sat on the hammock and took off his boots. Merlin immediately plugged his nose and said, " **Oh man, did something die in there?"** Gwaine gave him a look and said sarcastically, " **You'll never know."** Merlin got up, mumbling something about not being able to concentrate, and left the room. Gwaine smiled at the joke he had just done on Merlin. To be truthful, something had actually died, but it was before he put it in the boot. It was so uncomfortable to have it squishing around his socks all day. Percival opened the door to the room. " **Hey..."** Gwaine said but before he was done, Percival was gone. Apparently, even the big knight's nose couldn't handle the stink. Gwaine decided that if nobody else was coming in and going to smell it, neither should he have to. So he grabbed the boot, got out of the room, and dumped out the decaying animal into the ocean. But not before it caught Merlin's attention. " **Something really** _ **did**_ **die in there, didn't it.** " Merlin said in anger. Gwaine smiled and replied, " **It didn't actually die in there, it was already dead.** " Merlin gave up and went back to studying. He already knew that trying to get Gwaine to talk was like trying to make a piece of wood eat a stone. It was just hopeless. Gwaine smiled and went back to the Cabin. Merlin decided to wait longer till the stink died out. If it ever did. Plus, if it didn't, he could always trade stories with the sailors. End of chapter 2. I hope it was long enough, unlike chapter 1.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup simply stared with his mouth wide open. He had long since dropped his book and pencil. When he had the strength to move again, he let out a breath he didn't realize that he had been holding. His knees got weak again and he fell to the ground, not realizing (at the moment) how bad it would hurt.

With strength again, he got up and leaned on a tree. He couldn't believe it. A real night fury! He dared not whoop for joy, lest a villager was in these woods and heard him. If he didn't get the heart of the night fury back to his father, then nobody would believe him, and, to make matters worse, he wouldn't even get the credit he deserved.

Hiccup climbed down the mudslide vveerryy ccaarreeffuullllyy. If he slipped, then he might wake the sleeping creature up ahead. He still couldn't wrap his head around it. The dragon has been sitting here for what, eighteen hours? And nobody found it. He had to admit, he was glad about that, but still, it was crazy! The people in the village probably didn't want to go near the island for two reasons. A, if they did go on it, as Hiccup knew, the night was the stormiest that he had ever seen, it was hard for him to go the whole night, and the villagers didn't need to prove nothing to their chief. B, even if they did want to go, they didn't want to try and ruin their pride. Everybody in the village knew knew of Hiccup's rantings about the night fury. If they tried to go to the island, it would look like they actually believed the village's ''biggest fool''.

Hiccup looked around one last time before taking one more step and suddenly he just slid on the ground. Great, Hiccup thought. All that care for nothing. He got up, still embarrassed even though nobody saw. He wiped off the mud on his hands with the bark and few leaves left. Hiccup stared in awe. There it was. The night fury was simply an amazing creature. Hiccup, unable to control himself, stepped closer and accidentally stepped on a twig. The night fury immediately woke up. Hiccup stared in fear at the huge green eyes. Even though the dragon was all tied up, Hiccup was afraid to go any closer. He simply sat and stared until he got his wits back.

Hiccup felt like he and the dragon had been staring for hours, though it only could have been a few minutes. The dragon was simply looking at him, curious. It had one of it's tail fins missing, probably cut off in it's fall. He finally plucked up the courage to take a step. The dragon simply followed Hiccup's movements with his eyes. Hiccup stepped close enough and started to reach out his hand, but stopped a centimeter away, drew back then came again to pu hand on the cold, dark scales. The night fury shuddered at his touch, but didn't try to resist or fight back. In fact, after a few seconds when Hiccup drew back his hand again, the dragon seemed to try and come back with it, as if the creature wanted the hand for assurance.

Hiccup grabbed his knife out of his pocket. He knew what he had to do. The dragon must be killed so that he doesn't get exiled or kicked out. He had to admit, he was sad about killing the magnificent beast, but his mind was set, and he knew what he was going to have to do. As he raised the knife, the dragon closed it's eyes, knowing what was going to happen. The dragon would pay for all the pain and suffering that he had made the Vikings go through. Hiccup saw this gesture and his heart stopped. He put the knife down and put his hand back on the dragon. The dragon, confused, opened it's eyes and looked at Hiccup as if to say, "why?" and Hiccup just looked back sadly.

Hiccup was half way done cutting the rope when the dragon suddenly was able to slide out of it and the night fury pinned Hiccup to the ground. Hiccup let go of the knife and tried his hardest to get out of the night fury's tightening grip, but it was hopeless. Even Stoick the Vast couldn't have gotten out. Maybe. But either way Hiccup was not strong, so he couldn't make the grip falter even for a second.

Hiccup was terrified. The dragon could kill him. Hiccup closed his eyes. The same exact gesture that the night fury had done. The dragon was smart enough to realize this and roared very loudly as if to say "leave!" Then the night fury released it's powerful grip on Hiccup and tried to fly off, but realized it couldn't, so it flapped it's wings and sorta bounded away.

Hiccup let out a breath and closed his eyes, glad that it was over, and worried what his dad would say when he came back after being gone so long


	4. Chapter 4

Merlin swayed as the ship suddenly jerked in the water. He dropped his book on the hammock and ran out to see what was going on. It appeared to him that a giant aqua-colored sea creature was attacking them. It's face was flat as a pancake on the sides, but was also very thin, at least, when it didn't have what appeared to be 50 gallons of blazing hot water inside. It also had a very long neck. Merlin couldn't see the rest of the body, seeing as it was under water.

" **What is that**?" Merlin asked one of the crew members named David in a curious voice.

" **That, Merlin, is what we sailors call a scauldron.** " Merlin raised his eyebrows. He had never heard of the said _scauldron._ David laughed at this expression, then shook his head.

" **A scauldron, young man, is a sea dragon that shoots boiling water out of it's mouth, which can kill a man. They roam the seas looking for ye poor unfortunate souls.** " Then, David saw the look on young Merlin's face (which he assumed was a mix of surprise + fear, but it was actually surprise + understanding) and said to him, " **Aye, ye shouldn't worry mate. We sailors got it all under control.** " Merlin nodded and hid a smile. He then looked around for a place where nobody would see him use his abilities.

Merlin had just finished climbing down into a secluded part of the boat, but where you could still see everything going on. If the sailor was correct and the beast attacking them was a dragon, then he could simply use his abilities to make the beast go away, which would make his new friends feel better because they would get the credit for scaring off the beast, and they would get more rest. Trying to make a dragon leave is much harder than doing simple sailor duties. Merlin stopped for a second to make sure no one was watching and then let his magic do the

rest.

" _Dragorn. Non didlkai. Kari miss epsipass imalla krat. Katostar abore ceriss. Katicur. Me ta sentend divoless. Kar dex krisass."_ Merlin said to tame the dragon. It immediately stopped attacking the soldiers and stood still, if you don't mind the slight swaying it used to stay above the water. It was then that everyone simply stared at the creature. This type of dragon was not known for simply stopping mid-fight. The dragon stared for a second, looking slightly in Merlin's direction, then dove into the water, making the biggest splash in the world, (spraying everybody, and soaking the ones in front) and relieved the sailors of the hard work, for a while, at least.

· · · · · · · · · · · ·

The whole crew was allowed some rest time after the struggle they just barely had. Most of them took this time to get drunk, for with their sailor duties, they rarely got the chance. Merlin went back to his cabin and studied for a while, until he fell asleep. Gwaine and all the other knights also went back to their cabins, seeing as how it would probably be the most rest they have for a while.

Sir Leon looked at Merlin. The young man seemed to have been taking this quite well actually, all things considered. I mean, imagine if you just found you had family in a faraway place, and what the people did for a living there was kill them. Maybe a little bit of a weird analogy, but still. Now imagine you had to go up to them and ask for help in war, and not be able to help your family. Merlin was sort of magical family with the dragons (I guess). Anyway, Merlin was also the one talking because Arthur had pressured him into learning the language. All things considered, he should be the one that should do the least, for he had already done the most.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

" **Merlin** " Gwaine said to wake him up. Merlin didn't stir. After the nap he had taken he stayed up late studying Norse. This time Gwaine shook him while saying it.

" **Merlin!"** He said. Merlin was still half asleep so Gwaine tried again.

" **MERLIN! Come on, it's time to get up.** " Merlin bolted up faster than Gwaine had ever seen anyone move. Gwaine laughed in a friendly way, and Merlin looked more embarrassed than ever. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Something was different, he knew that for sure. He then noticed that the boat seemed to be slower.

" **Have we stopped?** " Merlin asked.

" **As a matter of fact, we have. But you could've just used your wizard abilities to see that right?** "

" **Actually, open sea dampens my senses. Not lakes, just the seas for some reason."**

 **"Hm. Well you better get up on deck. Arthur is telling everybody to grab their stuff and get off. He wants to make this trip as quick as possible."**

 **"Well I'm in trouble then."** Merlin said with a smile. But he grabbed his stuff anyways and headed up.

· · · · · · · · ·

 **"Well, look who decided to wake up."** Arthur told Merlin.

" **Yeah, it wasn't quite as fun as I thought it would be."** Merlin replied, which made Arthur sigh. Dealing with wizards is hard, but dealing with Merlin is impossible, he thought, but made sure not to say it aloud to Merlin. Merlin smiled and walked to the dock, carrying not just his, but some of Arthur's stuff.

Merlin saw that the sun wasn't quite up but was starting to peek through. He stopped for a second and rested before making his way to wherever the knights were going, for he had not been told where to go.

Merlin ducked and almost dropped everything as a huge, fat, rocky dragon swooped show low he could feel the wind. It was being chased by a crazy-looking Viking waving a battle ax. He ran into Merlin, said "Heill" he said quickly then ran past, still waving his weapon. Heill meant hello when addressed to a male, as Merlin had learned. After Merlin's heart slowed down a little after that scare, he kept going on.

" **What was** _ **that?**_ **"** Arthur asked as he caught up.

" **He was just saying hello. Literally.** Heillo **means hello."**

 **"Does this mean you've been practicing?"** Merlin just looked at him and then kept walking.

" **Ok"** Arthur said to himself then walked to the hut with Merlin.


	5. Chapter 5

Hiccup looked up. The sun wasn't quite up but it was getting close. Shoot! I've got to get back or someone will notice, he thought. He ran through the woods, pushing past twigs and leaves until he came out of the forest and to the bridge. He ran across the bridge as fast as he could, wind whipping his face from the night before. He ran in the shadows, hoping nobody would notice him, but, as fate always is, _Snotlout_ , of all people, noticed him crouching in the shadow of a hut.

"Hey Hiccup, the night fury you shot down escape off the island?" He asked with a sneer.

"No." Was all Hiccup said, not daring to reveal more than he should. He turned around to get to his own home.

"Hey Hiccup, I'm not done with you yet." Snotlout yelled back and then chased after him. Unfortunately for Hiccup, Snotlout was one of the kids who was faster, Hiccup also just spent the night searching for a night fury, so he was already pretty tired. As Hiccup turned back to see how far he was, Snotlout was already pouncing. Hiccup let out a yelp and quickly turned. He bumped into a man he had never seen before. He had dark hair and was wearing chainmail. Hiccup assumed this was one of the foreigners.

" **Xcuse me."** He said in English and the man looked surprised that he spoke his language, and well. Hiccup ran around the man and tried to find a hiding place, but couldn't before Snotlout found him.

Snotlout slugged Hiccup in the gut. He was one of those kids who acts one way in front of the chief, and another elsewhere. Hiccup fell to the ground, winded.

" **A little help!"** He said in English to the man in chainmail. The foreigner got out of his trance and easily pushed Snotlout off. Snotlout was still struggling to get at Hiccup when more of the man's comrades came. One had a look of superiority which Hiccup assumed was the leader. He had sandy blonde hair and was slightly big around the waist, only slightly though. But there was another one, one who seemed sad or angry at everything here. He had sort of defined cheekbones and hung back, as if to observe. He also had dark hair. He also stared at Hiccup as if to see his next moves.

" **Hi?"** Hiccup said in an uneasy voice, and the assumed leader looked at him, curious. He backed up, nervous. Then the leader turned to his comrade and joked, " **At least you don't need to speak Norse with this one!"** Hiccup, not knowing their customs or what to do, simply stared.

" **Gwaine!"** The leader said.

" **Yes?"**

" **Come with me, we need to discuss..."** He suddenly remembered that Hiccup could speak English and so he whispered the rest into Gwaine's ear. Gwaine nodded and turned to go when Hiccup told him, " **Thank you."**

He looked back but just nodded. Snotlout looked very confused during the whole conversation, but decided that ifthe knight was going to protect Hiccup, it would be better to lay low. Hiccup then ran back to his hut. He had the unnerving feeling that something or someone was watching him, but he was too worried about what his father would say.

· · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Hiccup slowly walked in the room with his head down.

"Son. Where were you?" Stoick asked in a serious voice. For most people, when they get mad, they scream or throw things and yell. Stoick did this unless he was truly angry. His voice, this time, was low and made Hiccup slightly cower at his father.

"Uh. I.. I was um. I was outside." Hiccup replied in a small voice.

"Doing what?" Stoick said with his voice getting deeper.

"Uh. I don't know." Hiccup

"You don't know eh? Well. I do, and frankly, although I don't like saying it, you speak English very well and since you're one of the only ones here who does, you'll have to be the tour guide."

"What!?" Hiccup was surprised.

"Unfortunately, Fishlegs is not quite done with the language and he'd be an even worse tour guide than you."

"Uh. Okay." Hiccup thought his father was going to get mad at him for trying to look for the night fury all night. He guessed his father probably didn't know. Learning English was very easy for him, as he already knew many other languages. He was born with smarts but no muscle. So he couldn't exactly do anything about it.

"Son?"

"Yes father?"

"Don't embarrass us. You will need to be there after breakfast to give them a tour."

"Alright." Hiccup went to get some food and then walked around a bit before heading to the big guesthouse where newcomers and rare visitors stayed. Or if a families house got burnt down by a dragon, so the building was usually packed. In fact, even though the village has been around for years, pretty much all the buildings were new.

· · · · · · · · · · ·

Hiccup waited around the front of the building, biting into an apple. He finished just as soon as the knights and what Hiccup assumed was another translator came out. He walked up to them slowly, analyzing their actions and what they seemed to like or do most often. In a way, they were kinda like Berk. They punched each other for fun, (which Hiccup still didn't get) and they also were a letter to transition into seriousness. Hiccup caught up to them.

" **Uh, I am the guide for you it seems."** He said. He recognized Gwaine, and nodded to him. He was still slightly embarrassed about what had happened, but didn't show it. " **So we're probably going to speak English which be easiest for everyone, but I am sorry if I accidentally go back to Norse."** He pointed at Merlin and said, " **He can tell you what I say though."**

" **How did you know Merlin could speak Norse?"** The leader asked. Hiccup thought for a second then replied with, " **Maybe if you listen and observe, you can find out quite a lot of things."** The leader seemed a little angry at being outsmarted but got over it.

" **If I may, I would like to know your names, or this will get very confusing. I know two of your names, Merlin and Gwaine, but not the rest."**

 **"I'm Arthur, there is Sir Leon on my right, Percival on my left, and last but not least, Sir Elyan."** Hiccup nodded, knowing that he would be able to remember. He somehow was able to recall things very far back in his life, which was very useful to him, but not to his father.

 **"Let's go then."** Hiccup said as he turned his heel and walked slowly away.


	6. Chapter 6

" **And this, is the chief's hut."** Finished the boy. " **Wait, you never told us your name!"** Gwaine yelled just as Hiccup had been about to leave. This was the question the Hiccup had been dreading. He would have to face torment from everybody now, even the visitors from Camelot!

" **My name's not important, I'm simply your guide, and nothing else."** The boy said the last sentence with a little bitterness.

" **I really rather..."** Arthur cut him off with a prod to the stomach. " **If you are to be our tour guide, we should at least know your name!"** The boy sighed, realizing that there was no way out of this and quietly said,

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III." Then hurried off surprisingly quickly for a boy his size. Gwaine turned to Arthur, "Hiccup?" Then turned to Merlin and asked,

" **Does that mean something different in Norse than it does in English?" Merlin tried to keep from laughing.**

" **Never read anything about it, I guess Hiccup is the same thing in Norse as it is English, explains why he didn't want us to know his name!" Gwaine and Lyon burst into laughter, nearly crying. "Hey, be nice, he didn't get to choose his name." Said Merlin, trying to hide a smile, but eventually, he too, started laughing.**

Eventually, they settled down enough to start breathing normally again. Gwaine looked at Lyon and said,

" **Well I feel about guilty now."**

 **"Come on Gwaine, you never feel guilty."** Replied Lyon with a grin.

" **Ok, you caught me there."** Replied Gwaine.

" **Come on, let's go to the bar! I think it's the only place I remember in the tour!"**

Merlin rolled his now-dry eyes and was about to go run with the others when a thought struck him. The boy, Hiccup, he reasoned, wasn't the same rough-tough type of Viking you normally saw here. If, somehow, I could get him to join our side, we would have a much better chance of getting some dragons! He knows the layout and the village, and he seems like the kind of person that can disappear easily.

" **Hurry up Merlin or you'll get lost!"** Shouted Arthur, so Merlin picked up his pace. Surviving here, he thought, is going to be much harder than we imagined.

Hiccup stared at the ground where he had first seen the night fury. He wished that it had finished him off when he had the chance. Why, he thought, did my parents _have_ to name me Hiccup! Why couldn't I have a normal name, or at least taken my fathers name, Stoick! So many Vikings are doing that now, cause they're not creative enough to find more names for their children. It could be put on a sign, it was so obvious, VIKINGS! ALL BRAWN AND NO BRAIN! When he had ran off, he didn't actually run that far, just simply disappeared behind some trees and bushes. He had heard their laughing and now knew they were just like the Vikings in his village. Hiccup started wandering aimlessly, feeling sorry for himself, when he found a curious rock. He stared at it, knowing it was probably nothing, but couldn't get it out of his head.

He walked off, but eventually circled back to the rock, when it suddenly hit him. He assumed they were just black specs on the rock, but when he looked closer, he realized thy weren't specs, but scales, the _exact_ same color as the night fury he had freed earlier! He cautiously searched around the rock, and found a trail. But, to his disappointment, the trail ended on the other side of the rock.

He stared at the scales, wondering what it meant, when he almost fell off the rock at the sound of a deafening roar. He scrambled back to safety. He wasn't taking any chances, not with a night fury, of all dragons. When he cautiously looked back, what he saw nearly broke his heart. He didn't feel as sorry for himself any more, not after seeing the poor dragon and his fate.

The ferocious creature was stuck in a small space, hardly enough for a terrible terror to be happy, much less a night fury! He observed the dragon. It looked like it was trying to escape, but it was too weak. He also realized with horror that the night fury was too weak to catch fish, and there were no deer or rabbits in this place. He ran back to the village with a plan, that he hoped would save the night fury. Or it would probably kill me, thought Hiccup.

As he was running back, he realized he must have been gone for a long time, and the big bugle sounded. With a start, he realized that he didn't want to kill dragons, and that he was going to be even more of a failure for being late, instead of early, as most Vikings were, because they loved it so much.

While Arthur and the others got drunk, Merlin just stared at his nearly overflowing mug, for two reasons. A.) He wanted to keep his mind alert, in case the Vikings were going to hold _them_ hostage in exchange for supplies or ships. He had noticed that all the huts and ships were either new, or destroyed by the dragons. B.) He wanted to make a plan, to get Hiccup on his team. He realized that this would be even harder, after him and all the others had laughed so long at his name. He seriously doubted that Hiccup had gone far, and knew that had been able to hear every word.

" **Come on, Merlin. You look so serious, just have a cup of beer!"** Gwaine said as he brought Merlin out of his trance.

" **Gwaine,"** he whispered quietly, " **I really shouldn't, a drunk wizard is _not_ a good idea."**

Gwaine mumbled something about being a boring cow, took Merlin's cup, and went by his new Viking friends. Merlin hid a smile. Little did Gwaine realize, those Vikings were talking about ways to pull a prank on Gwaine without Gwaine knowing who it was. They were going to put yak droppings in his bed or something of that kind.

Merlin eventually got bored of the mood in the tavern and eventually went to go outside. He wandered around, memorizing the buildings from the tour, but eventually got bored of _that_ too. He was going to walk to the next island over when he heard the enourmous sound of a bugle he walked over to an excited looking female Viking with shockingly blonde hair, (you and I know her as Astrid) and asked what the bugle was for. She looked excited and said in Norse,

"It's for the Dragon Training Program. Kids are training to kill and capture dragons. Isn't it amazing! I've been waiting to do this my whole life. Now get out of my way or I'll be late."

Merlin got out of her way, and looked on with sadness. They were training to kill dragons, right in front of him!

Arthur and the others rushed out and saw Merlin staring at the ground.

 **"What was that bugle for, and why are you so sad?"** Asked Lyon.

" **In answer to both your questions, it's for the dragon training program, where they are trained to capture and kill dragons."**

Arthur looked on with authority and said to Merlin,

 **"However queasy you are, we have to find a way to stop this, and that means we have to go watch. I'm sorry Merlin. If you really can't, then go back to our hut, and make a plan for how we're going to get these dragons."**

" **No, it's alright. I'll come with you."**

And so they ran off to see this so-called dragon training.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiccup ran into the arena they use for dragon training right as the second bugle sounded.

"WELCOME TO DRAGON TRAINING!" Gobber said in an enourmous voice.

Astrid turned in a circle, taking it all in.

"No turning back." She muttered under her breath.

Everyone walked around, taking it in. One of the twins, probably Tuffnut, looked and said,

"I hope I get some _serious_ burns." The other twin replied with, "I hope I get some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back."

They stared in awe at the place they would train for the next part of their lives. It wasn't the place itself, but the thought behind it.

Astrid inturrupted the twins by saying, "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it.

"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain, love it." Hiccup replied sarcastically.

Then Tuffnut interrupted _him_ by replying with, "Oh great, who let _him_ in?"

All the others sniggered. Hiccup was the odd man, or rather, the odd boy out, and didn't have very many friends. To be honest, he didn't have _any_ friends. He was pretty weak, and used his brain, which was outrageous in these places and times. If the Vikings learned he was more of a nerd than they already knew, he would be kicked out of the tribe.

Gobber interrupted all of them with his booming voice that Hiccup thought could probably be heard in Camelot, "ALL RIGHT, LET'S GET STARTED! THE RECRUIT WHO DOES BEST WILL HAVE THE HONOR OF KILLING HIS FIRST DRAGON IN FRONT OF THE _ENTIRE_ VILLAGE!"

Snotlout called out to Gobber, "Well, Hiccup already killed a night fury, so does that disqualify him or something?" All the others couldn't help it this time and burst into laughter so hard even Gobber couldn't help but a little giggle, but soon regained his composure. Well, as much composure a Viking would respect. Vikings were not ones who wanted others to be more important than them except the chief, and didn't want to look silly by having such a useless thing as composure.

Tuffnut rolled his eyes and said, "Can I transfer to the class with the _cool_ Vikings?" Gobber ignored him. All the others walked off away from the little weirdo Hiccup, and Gobber said to him, "Don't worry, you're small and you're weak. That'll make you less of a target! They'll see you as sick or insane and go for the more Viking-like teens instead." He gave Hiccup a friendly push, right into Fishlegs. As Hiccup ran into Fishlegs, Fishlegs pulled away from Hiccup, not even wanting to touch him. However, Gobber attracted their attention once more with his voice that was as loud as a bugle.

"BEHIND THESE DOORS ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY DRAGONS YOU WILL LEARN TO FIGHT. DEADLY NADDER," Fishlegs whispered what he thought was to himself but could be heard by everyone, "Speed 8: Armor 16." Fishlegs too, was a nerd, but he was also strong and not as smart as Hiccup, so the chief didn't bother him.

"THE HIDEOUS ZIPPLEBACK,"

"Plus eleven stealth times two."

"MONSTROUS NIGHTMERE,"

"Power, 15"

"THE TERRIBLE TERROR,"

"Attack 8, Venom 12"

CAN YOU STOP THAT! And, the GRONCKLE!"

Fishlegs leaned down to Hiccup, "Jaw strength, 8"

Hiccup would have retorted back that he knew more about dragons than Fishlegs, and he didn't have to tell him that, but was interrupted, again, by Snotlout. "Woah woah woah wait!? Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

"I BELIEVE IN LEARNING ON THE JOB!" Then released the gronckle. It came zooming out, having been stuck in that cage for what felt like forever. It promptly started eating rocks, which made lava for the gronckle, and then blasted the lava at the trainees.

"TODAY IS ABOUT SURVIVAL. IF YOU GET BLASTED, YOU'RE DEAD... NOW. WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU'RE GOING TO NEED?"

"A doctor?" Hiccup guessed, hoping that Gothi was nearby, in case his face melted off. Not that he thought it would, maybe. As he scrambled around helplessly, he noticed with dismay that the Knights of Camelot had come to watch. This is perhaps the most embarrassing moment of my life.

"Plus 6 speed?" Cried Fishlegs, getting desperate.

"A shield!" Cried Astrid, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"SHIELDS! GO! THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT IS YOUR SHIELD! IF YOU MUST TAKE THE CHOICE BETWEEN A SWORD AND A SHIELD, TAKE THE SHIELD!

Every single Viking headed for their shields all at the same time. As was typical of the twins, they grabbed the same shield and fought over it.

"Get your hands off my shield!"

"There's like a million shields!"

"Take that one. That one has flowers, girls like flowers!"

And in response, Ruffnut took the shield and slammed it over Tuffnut's head.

"Oops, now this one has blood on it." Pretending to be apologetic and giving it back. They were so busy fighting, they didn't notice the big, brown Gronckle flying towards them. The Gronckle fired at them, and they both fell to the ground, dazed.

"TUFFNUT, RUFFNUT, YOU'RE OUT!"

"What?" They said in sleepy voices, and Gobber ignored them.

"THOSE SHIELDS ARE GOOD FOR ANOTHER REASON. NOISE! MAKE AS MUCH NOISE AS YOU CAN!"

So everybody banged their shields with their swords or axes.

"NOW, ALL DRAGONS HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF SHOTS. HOW MANY DOES A GRONCKLE HAVE?"

"5?" Guessed Snotlout.

"No, it's 6!"

"CORRECT! 6! THERES ONE FOR EACH OF YOU!"

The gronckle goes for Fishlegs and soon he, too, is out, running away and screaming. Very un-Vikingly of him.

"FISHLEGS, OUT!"

Gobber notices Hiccup hiding behind a piece of scrap wood.

"HICCUP, GET IN THERE!" And he pulled Hiccup out roughly.

Snotlout, who was flirting with an uninterested Astrid, got out too.

"OUT SNOTLOUT"

"So, I guess it's just you and me then?" Hiccup said uneasily.

"Nope. Just you." And then ran off to the other side of the arena

"Oh, great." The gronckle shot a lava ball at him. He raised his shield just in time but the force of the blast sent him sprawling and the shield rolling away. He hurried to get up and ran after the shield. Just as he got there, though, the gronckle knocked him to the ground. He was about to finish him off, when Gobber put his hook in the gronckle's mouth, and the shot missed.

"Shot number 6. You're all out."

Gobbet wrestled the gronckle back into its cage and then leaned down to Hiccup.

"Remember Hiccup, the dragon always —— _always_ —— goes for the kill.

Merlin

As Merlin thankfully realized, they weren't going to kill a dragon yet. He was angry, though. They were still torturing the dragon. All the noise they were making was hurting it, and Merlin could feel the pain as well as the dragon could.

" **Merlin, you okay?"** Asked Arthur.

" **Yeah, I'll be fine. I think I have a plan that will make it easier to get dragons out safely."**

 **"Really? Do you think it'll work?"**

 **"No. But I know for sure that nothing else will."**

 **"Oh."** Was his only reply. Then there was an uncomfortable silence while Gobber pulled Hiccup back into the ring.

" **So, what's your plan?"** Arthur asked.

 **"It's too dangerous to say out here, but I'll tell you when we're alone. One thing though, we're going to need his help."** Merlin said, pointing to Hiccup.

" **You can't be serious. There's now way he'll be able to help, he can't even hold his shield!"**

 **"It's not his strength I need."**

 **"Oh yeah, well what makes you think he'd be willing to help, huh? He's a _Viking,_ for heavens sake. He was born and bred to kill the very creatures you want him to save!"**

 **"But I think he's different!"**

 **"He's not!"**

 **"But..."**

 **"I don't care. He's the son of the chief!"**

 **"What?"** Merlin was surprised. The chief was a big guy, but this boy was a stick!

" **If you tell him, he's likely to tell his father, and we would be in even more trouble than we are now."**

 **"Sh. Others are going to hear you."**

 **"Yeah? Well you should hear yourself. You're crazy! We could never go through with any plan involving him, or any other Vikings. Look, we can't take the risk. Not after we've gotten this far and the Vikings trust us this much."**

Merlin was lost for words. He had never known that Hiccup would be the son of _the_ chief Stoick, of all people! He'd excepted that to be Fishlegs, or Snotlout, but Hiccup?

" **Look at him. The others resent him. Maybe if we can find a good reward that would make him get respect, he'd be happy to help. Plus, the Vikings would still be happy being able to have less dragons to fight."**

 **"Merlin, you've never listened to me a day in your life, but please do now. We cannot tell him. He's too much of a wild card and it's too risky. What if, to earn some respect, he tells the chief and ruins our plans? You must think these things through."**

 **"I did think it through."** Merlin muttered, but quiet enough that Arthur didn't here.

" **I think I'm going to go to our hut for a nap."** Said Merlin and walked off.

" **Come on, Merlin. Don't be a sore loser."** Cried Arthur desperately.

" **Sire, should we follow him?"** Asked Percival.

" **No, let him go."** Arthur resumed watching the practice session.

What if he's right? Was the question that kept running through both Arthur and Merlin's heads. Unfortunately, the more they thought about it, the more they were convinced that the other was right, and they were still at disagreement.


	8. Chapter8

Merlin walked back to the hut and waited for Arthur to get there. He studied some more Norse, and went downstairs and practiced with some of the locals.

Eventually, Arthur came in with the rest of the crew.

 **"Arthur, I need to speak with you."**

Arthur looked at him tiredly, then nodded slightly.

" **Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier, but I think you're right. We can't involve him, and it would be to risky."**

Arthur looked at him and smiled.

 **"As much as I love it when you admit you're wrong, it's actually a pretty good plan. We just have to give him a good reason to stay quiet."**

 **"Really? But what if we can't?"**

 **"Let's not tell him yet, we need to be careful, and until we can be sure that he won't tell, we won't."**

 **"Ok. Good plan."** Merlin replied with a smile.

The others looked at each other and smiled too as Merlin and Arthur shook hands in agreement.

They went to their rooms, Arthur and Merlin discussing the context of their plan. It wasn't a hard plan, but it was not without risks.

 **"Maybe if we catch him doing something wrong? Maybe catching him petting a dragon or something? We could use that against him, threaten to tell his father?"** Suggested Arthur.

" **Are you crazy?!? He definitely won't trust us then! He'll probably tell his father that he was trying to get us away from the dragon."** Replied Merlin.

" **Uhh, fine. I hate it when you're right."**

 **"No, you just hate it when you're wrong."** Replied Merlin with a smug grin. Unfortunately, he didn't see the hand of Arthur coming to smack him on the back of the head. And when he did, it was too late. Merlin almost fell, but caught himself.

" **What was that for?"**

 **"For being right. Unfortunately, being wrong makes me angry too. And more likely to hit you."** The grin was too hard to keep down and Arthur burst out laughing while Merlin was still rubbing his head.

Hiccup

"So why didn't you?" Hiccup ran the question in his mind again and again. The night fury had had his chance to kill them, and by Gobber's standards, he should've. But he didn't. He held the trap he used in his hands, hoping it would give him a clue.

Hiccup went back to where he found the night fury, got out his sketchbook, and started drawing.

"Come on, just fly away!" He continued drawing.

The night fury stopped for a moment and provided Hiccup the perfect opportunity to see the whole body. It was then he realized that half the tail was missing, and didn't give him enough balance.

"Of course! It makes so much sense now!" He exclaims and accidentally threw the pencil in the air. It clattered down and fell right in front of the night fury.

"I think I should go..." Hiccup turned tail and ran.

———

Back in the Great Hall, Astrid, Snotlout and everyone except Hiccup was eating while the rain poured outside. Gobber walked up.

"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong today?"

Everyone guessed randomly, misguidedly thinking Astrid could never go wrong, when she spoke up.

"I mistimed my dive, and it was sloppy." She said bitterly.

Ruffnut replied sarcastically, "Yeah, we noticed." But stopped talking when Astrid gave her a stare that could burn right through a dragon's skull.

"Yes, she's right. And where did Hiccup go wrong?" He said as Hiccup entered, covered in mud and rain, grabbed a plate and sat down. Everybody moved away.

"He showed up." Said Ruffnut. (Or Tuffnut)

"He didn't get eaten." Said Tuffnut. (Or Ruffnut)

"He's never where he should be." Said Astrid angrily, as though bored of every little thing about Hiccup.

"Thank you Astrid." Gobber pulled out a tattered, leather bound book out from behind him.

"This," He said, slamming the book down on the table, "is the book of dragons. You'll find everything you need to know about every dragon you need to know about in here."

Fishlegs started shaking, barely containing himself.

"I've read this book 7 times! There are so many dragons, whispering death..."

"Stop!" Yelled Gobber. "Read this tonight. No dragon fighting."

When Gobber walked away, Fishlegs started speaking again.

"Oh, there is the scauldron, it can shoot boiling water that has been known to melt the skin right off a Viking!"

"Well, I'm not sure that's something to be excited about, but I think we ran into one of those on the way here!" Merlin said in near perfect Norse as he walked up, and everyone turned to look at him. Fishlegs squeaked again, "A Knight Of Camelot!" Merlin laughed.

"I'm not an actual knight. I'm King Arthur's servant. But pleased to meet you. I'm Merlin, who are you again?"

"Fishlegs." He breathed, and Merlin smiled, able to not laugh this time.

Hiccup grumpily thought, So he laughs at my name but not Fishlegs. What kind of name is Merlin, huh? No way it would scare off a dragon. Though I suppose those from the South are very different. Grr. But he kept those thoughts to himself.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut got bored of the silence.

"Well, I would read it, but then what use would you be Fishlegs, if you didn't tell me? I'm going outside." Said Tuffnut. (Or maybe Ruffnut?)

They left with Snotlout following behind with a similar excuse.

Fishlegs, not wanting to be left behind, ran akwardly away, hurriedly saying goodbye to Merlin, who had started walking away, and grabbing his hammer.

Astrid's expression didn't change at all during the whole experience. Hiccup awkwardly saddled up next to Astrid.

"So, do you want to share, or..."

"Nope. Read it." She said, bored, while pushing it towards Hiccup.

"Ok. Just, gonna, read by myself, alone."

—————————-

Merlin-

Merlin was walking away from everyone before he realized that Hiccup was left alone. He watched from the shadows as Hiccup sat on the bench, dissatisfied and a little sad, until he actually opened the book. He pushed through the pages so fast he either had super reading or he was looking for something, Merlin guessed.

Finally, he stopped on a page. Merlin used magic to see what was one the page, but noticed surprisingly little compared to the other pages he saw.

"Night fury," he read, whispering the words out loud. He remembered some of the other Vikings talking about it. The night fury was the most feared dragon out of all the breeds. Apparently, it didn't steal food, just attacked people. Merlin was pretty confused. **A dragon shouldn't act like that** , he thought. **So who, or what, is making it do this?**

The door to the great hall opened, stopping both Merlin and Hiccup's thoughts. Arthur, Elyan, and Percival all walked in. Merlin watched as Hiccup slammed the book shut and quickly walked past them into the rain.


	9. Chapter9

Arthur walked up to Merlin, everybody falling into step behind him.

" **What was that about?"** He said, pointing his thumb back to the door.

" **Well** ," said Merlin matter-Of-factly, " **You interrupted his reading of Night furies."**

 **"Night furies?"** Said Arthur, raising his eyebrow.

" **Arthur, something is definitely wrong. Dragons attacking Vikings for sheep, that I could understand, they need food. But the night fury doesn't take anything, doesn't steal food or livestock, just destroys random buildings and kills Vikings. It makes no sense. Dragons just don't behave like that without reason."**

 **"Well,"** Arthur said, trying to calm Merlin down, " **Kilgarrah attacked Camelot, he didn't take anything, and Aithusa sides with Morgana, even though we did nothing bad to her."** He shrugged his shoulders.

" **No you're wrong!"** Arthur raised his eyebrow, as if baiting Merlin to offend him again. " **I mean, both Aithusa and Kilgarrah has reason. Kilgarrah was imprisoned by Uther, and so he wanted to make Uther pay. Aithusa was imprisoned by the Sarrum of Amata, and Morgana was the only comfort she had."** Arthur was quiet again.

" **But what can we do?"**

" **We need to find out what is going on with Hiccup, find the night fury, and save the dragons in the ring."**

 **"Um,"** Gwaine interrupted with a quick thought, " **On the subject of Hiccup, we should probably keep a 24 hour watch on him, but first we need to find out where he is."**

Everyone looked around, forgetting that Hiccup had disappeared when they walked in.

" **Come on, let's go to the Inn, it will be a little more private, so we can come up with a plan.**

 **————**

Back at the inn, everyone gathered in Arthur's room. " **Alright everyone, I've gathered you here because we need to make a plan to get the help of these dragons. First things first, we need to set up a watch for Hiccup. See what he's up to, and if we are going to be able to convince him to help us. Make sure he doesn't know you are there. If he finds out we're watching him, it could make him turn tail. Like when Merlin finds out there is a mouse behind him!"**

 **"Hey, that's not fair. I like mice, it's the rats that I jump at. And I don't run that far, there are too many walls!** **"** Merlin said while the others chuckled, but then Arthur continued.

 **"Leon, you will be on the first shift. Gwaine, I want you to spend time with the boy, try to get him to trust you. You have already helped him once with his bully, so you're probably the best bet at getting him to trust you. After Leon will be Elyan, then Percival, then I will go. Merlin, you use your magic to earn a dragons trust. Those uh, monstrous nightmare, I think they called them, might come in handy."**

 **"Yes Sire."** Merlin spoke solemnly.

" **Everyone, Morgana cannot be allowed to win. We need these dragons as much as they need us. Dismissed."** Everyone turned and left except Merlin, leaving them alone.

" **Merlin, I'll understand if you can't do this."**

 **"No. You won't. You don't understand what it's like to have to feel the pain of every single creature around you, to feel life draining out of a dragon. You don't know Arthur!"**

 **"Merlin, I, I..."**

 **"These Vikings have to be stopped, because I cannot bear another minute of this than I have to."** Merlin's eyes started to tear up. " **It's like feeling a stab to my heart, and just when I think I will heal, it happens, again, and again, and again. And there is no rest, only fear and worry."**

 **"Look Merlin. We will stop these Vikings, but only if you help. Otherwise, every single one of these dragons will suffer from the Vikings. Because we can't stop to think about the pain, or we won't ever get back to the present. So stop being such a girl, and start acting like a warlock!"**

Merlin looked at Arthur, surprised at the harshness but also the truth in his words. He wiped his eyes. **"Of course, I'm sorry you had to listen to my thoughts. You are a great friend Arthur, and a great king."** And on that note, Merlin turned and left the room.

————

Sir Leon walked into his room, thinking about what was going to happen ahead. He was so busy thinking he didn't notice the blond head of hair quietly slipping past him and into the hall way, but he did hear the crash when the body the head belonged to bumped a table set up. He ran out, trying to see what was going on, but only saw a blur of yellow and braids whipping out the door into the rain outside.

————

Hiccup

"So. I just happened to notice there wasn't anything on night furies in the book of dragons. Is there another book? A sequel? A _night fury pamphlet_?" Hiccup stood in the middle of the arena, looking up at Gobber while the rest of the class was running from the Deadly Nadder. The Nadder noticed Hiccup's turned back and fired at him. Hiccup noticed it just in time to lift his shield and run away.

"Ah!, What the..."

"COME ON, HICCUP. ARE YOU EVEN TRYIN'?!?" Gobber yelled, red-faced and very, _very_ annoyed at Hiccup.

"TODAY, IS ALL ABOUT ATTACK!! NADDERS ARE QUICK, AND LIGHT ON THEIR FEET. YOUR JOB, IS TO BE QUICKER AND LIGHTER!" Gobber smiled from the _safe_ , viewing area of the arena. Fishlegs ran from the Nadder, trying not to get burned and eaten alive in a training session.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! Gobber, I am REALLY beginning to question your teaching methods!! AHH!"

This only seemed to encourage Gobber to continue these so-called methods. He continued talking as if everyone's lives weren't on the line.

"LOOK FOR IT'S BLIND SPOT! EVERY DRAGON HAS ONE. FIND IT, HIDE IN IT, and then STRIKE!"

While Gobber was yelling at the top of his lungs, which was very loud by the way, the twins, habitually, were arguing and didn't notice the Nadder sneaking up behind them.

"Ugh, do you ever _bathe?!?"_ Ruffnut asked.

"If you don't like it, why don't you just find your _own_ blind spot?" Tuffnut replied sardonically.

"Maybe I'll give you one!" Ruffnut said angrily as she lunges at her brother. The Nadder hears their cries and starts attacking them. The twins run away.

Gobber, as was natural for a man of his nature, laughed at their near-death experience.

"BLIND SPOT, YES. _DEAF_ SPOT? NOT SO MUCH!"

He let out a big, booming laugh that nearly scared the Nadder into running away. Then it was over and the Nadder was back in a kill-or-be-killed kind of mood.

Hiccup was back in his original spot, trying to pry more information from Gobber.

"So, how would one sneak up on a night fury?"

Gobber said and said, bored, "No ones ever seen one and lived to tell the tale. NOW GET IN THERE!!!" Gobber sighed, thinking, Poor Stoik, I don't know _how_ he deals with Hiccup every. single. day. So many QUESTIONS!!!

"I know, I know, but hypotheti..." Hiccup was interrupted by Astrid, whispering, "Hiccup, get down!" Hiccup quieted and Snotlout pushes past her.

"It's ok, I'll take care of this! Watch out, babe." He throws the hammer, but missed and only gave away their position and annoyed the Nadder.

"HEY!" Astrid said, annoyed.

Snotlout had to hurriedly find an excuse. "The sun was in my _eyes,_ Astrid! What, do you want me to block out the sun? I can do that, I just don't have the time right now!" Hiccup chose this moment to once again ask Gobber about the Night Fury.

"They probably take the daytime off, like a cat, right? Has anyone ever caught one napping?"

"HICCUP!?!" Gobber had to bite his tongue, (very, very hard) to refrain from saying anything too terrible to the Chief's son.

Hiccup was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the Nadder toppling all of the walls in the maze, or Astrid running full speed away until she ran straight into him, her axe sticking into the wood.

"HICCUP!" She said, clearly, very very angry.

"Ooh," said Tuffnut, (Or Ruffnut) tauntingly. "Love on the battlefield!"

The other twin said, "She could do better."

While the twins were mocking them, Astrid was struggling to get her axe out of Hiccup's shield. Finally, at the last moment, she yanked it out and threw it straight at the Nadder's head. It teetered for a second, then fell onto the hard floor of the arena.

"Well done, Astrid!" Gobber congratulated her. She didn't wait a second before turning to face Hiccup.

"Is this some kind of joke to you? Our parents war, is about to become _ours._ Figure out which side you're on!"


End file.
